While the parties work towards a ceasefire, the pro-Iranian party remains opposed to "direct negotiations" with the Jewish state. Lebanon’s capital is experiencing hours of relative calm, but tensions remain in the south. The Druze House hosts a summit of religious leaders. Among the population, a growing consensus calls for peace with the Israelis and normalisation of relations.

Many projects are in the southeast of the country, an area home to sizable religious minorities. This is the case of the G25 Solar Power Plant near the Chaldean village of Aynwardo. For the Turkish government, the project is of "public interest" and must be backed. Christian MP George Aryo has already raised the issue (in vain) in parliament.

A new chapter in the silent war on heritage in the West Bank. The tomb of the prophet, north of Jerusalem, managed by the Islamic Waqf, has been seized in the latest act of the “Judaization” of Palestinian sites. Peace Now: the aim is to “expand and deepen the annexation”. Rumours of a plan by the Netanyahu government to strip Jordan of custody of Islam’s third holiest site.

Scores have died in Israeli attacks in the south of the country, including across the Litani River. Israel aims to expand the territory it controls by up to 30 kilometres. So far, the capital, Beirut, has been spared, since the United States has designated it “off-limits”. A new round of talks is scheduled for 2 and 3 June in Washington, where the Lebanese delegation will insist on the need for an immediate and simultaneous cessation of hostilities.

Inaugurated recently in Jordan, the establishment is not just an academic initiative but a project that combines education, interreligious dialogue, and the development of spiritual heritage. The goal is to make Al-Maghtas a centre for study and reflection on early Christianity, where history, theology, and culture intertwine. This vision looks to 2030, when the two-thousandth anniversary of Jesus’s baptism will be celebrated at the site.

Pope Leo XIV has authorised the decree on the miracle. Speaking to AsiaNews, Sister Marie-Antoinette Saadé, superior of the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, describes him as the architect of “the historic vocation of Greater Lebanon”.The beatification will be a “providential and prophetic sign” of a “pluralistic, free” country. Bishop of Batroun: “God’s grace at a time when Lebanon’s identity and integrity are under threat”.